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The Calculating Stars
- A Lady Astronaut Novel
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
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The Calculating Stars
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Summary
Mary Robinette Kowal's science fiction debut, The Calculating Stars, explores the premise behind her award-winning Lady Astronaut of Mars.
Den of Geek - Best Science Fiction Books of June 2018
Omnivoracious - Fifteen Highly Anticipated SFF Reads for Summer 2018
On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the East Coast of the US, including Washington, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the Earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs.
This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space and requires a much-larger share of humanity to take part in the process.
Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.
Elma’s drive to become the first lady astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.
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What listeners say about The Calculating Stars
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Marthe
- 09-07-21
A great book - recommended
I finished this book pretty fast, it was good. I wanna give it 9/10 stars.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MR Nathan Gallagher
- 29-04-23
Was worried about the ‘lady astronaut’ term
The term ‘lady astronaut’ concerned me however I needn’t have been worried. It becomes apparent fairly quickly how appropriate the ‘lady astronaut’ series title is.
As a story it’s a fascinating journey mixing the alternative history and dystopian genres perfectly.
This book is an absolute joy to listen to - even with the outrageous occasional French accent! :)
Beautifully written and beautiful read
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- GW
- 10-08-19
The best audiobook I’ve ever heard!
What a wonderful book. Exploring the opportunity of space from the view of a woman, a Jew, a fallible, anxious and desperately determined protagonist. The glorious, human, hopeful narration does such justice to a brilliant text. I finished it in tears!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Milena Popova
- 17-02-20
awesome performance of great book
Really enjoyable book, made even greater by Kowal's performance - the voice acting is spectacular! Enjoyed the story and the way it depicts and critically engages with both misogyny and racism.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 09-09-21
Captivating start with a lackluster finish
Just like a rocket it has a bombastic start with energy that peters out by the end. Still worth a listen and will continue with the series
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-09-19
An unexpected journey to a future past
Wow! This was so different and so good and so unexpected and so masterfully done that I am downloading the second book without hesitation. This is a great story told from the unusual perspective of, a Jewish female maths wiz living in a fictional 1950’s America. This plucky young woman works hard to overcome crippling insecurities and misogyny in a fight to put women in space. The stakes are incredibly high, but her struggle feels real. It has the charm of early sci-fi novels from the golden age, that sucked me right in. After a year of reading hard core sci-fi and space opera this was a completely refreshing read. Loved it!
All in all, a warm, charming and well told story.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr. A. J. Kelly
- 13-04-21
Lady Astronauts have lift off
An interesting counterfactual history with some clunky sex scenes which let the rest of the book down. Some serious issues dealt with as well well
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- MR B
- 24-07-20
struggled to finish
was excited about this book but it didn't live up to expectations. quite dull at times really. the concept is great, the narration was ok, I'll forgive the cringy sex scenes as they were on point for the character and story, male authors get to do that all the time so why not. but yeah not sure this deserved a nebula. nowhere near as good as n k jemsin or Anne leckie if you're looking for good sci fi or fantasy by a female author
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- RR
- 24-04-24
Where did the excitement go?
The first few chapters were full of action and purpose and so exciting and then it all vanished and I was left waiting for something to happen. I felt the book lost its energy and didn’t really go anywhere after the initial story set up. Not really what I was hoping for and definitely not a sci-fi book. There were two book ideas, one about the end of the world which we didn’t really hear about after the first part and one about equal rights and an exciting trip into space, both great ideas but I felt they got lost wrapped up as one story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CitizenV
- 18-02-21
Peachy keen!
I am embarrassed to have only just read/listened to this. I was put off by the series title and now I feel thoroughly stupid.
If you like relatable characters, a great story, really great historically adjacent commentary or a fantastic opening sequence then this is your book.
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